Sisters of Apollo
by IchigoTheStray
Summary: Tsume has never particularly cared for girls, but when a disturbed young girl wolf and her sister stumble into his life in search of their brother, he wonders if he could have jumped to conclusions. Hige & OC, Tsume & OC.
1. Strangers

Hello! This is my first fanfic on Please read and review! And please be honest. And now my alter ego Kaori will read the disclaimer. 

Kaori: We don't own Wolf's Rain.

* * *

If any humans had been walking through those woods, they may have seen four young men and a girl pass by. If they looked a little more closely, they might have noticed something strange about the way they moved, the way they spoke to each other. But no one ever thought to look more closely.

The animals that cowered in the brush saw the four young wolves and the girl pass by, moving pointedly toward some distant goal. The roots of the trees felt sixteen paws and two gentle feet pass over them.

Someone's stomach growled.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Hige said.

Silence.

"You know what this pack needs?" Hige said, trying to spark something even remotely resembling a conversation.

Kiba and Tsume stiffened, but Toboe said, "What?"

"Girls."

"I should have known you'd say that," the young pup said.

Silence.

"You have to admit, it would be nice to have girls around," Hige attempted.

"We have Cheza," Toboe said.

Hige sighed. "It's just not the same."

Tsume wrinkled his nose. They didn't need anyone.

Tsume hadn't had much exposure to girl wolves, and he didn't think much of the ones he had met. _There are only two kinds of women, _he thought. _Either they're cowardly and submissive or loud and overbearing. _Tsume didn't particularly care for either.

"We definitely don't need any girls," Tsume said aloud.

"I bet you're gay," Hige muttered.

"I'm not!" Tsume shouted. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I'm not," he added.

Was he?... No. As much as he disliked women, he was definitely not attracted to men.

"Hige, what's 'gay' mean?"

Hige sighed. "We'll tell you when you're a little older."

Cheza stopped short and Toboe nearly ran into her.

"What is it, Cheza?" Kiba asked.

"We have friends here," she said. "But, no... wait. Something is wrong...." Great teardrops began to fall noiselessly from her blind red eyes.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kiba prompted.

The wind shifted.

Hige's nose sniffed the air. "I smell blood," he said.

Toboe mimicked him. "Human blood?"

"No," Tsume said. He had also caught the scent. "Wolf blood."

"They are coming our way," Cheza said.

They heard rustling in the bushes about 100 yards off. Five heads whirled in the direction the noise had come from. Two silver-grey wolves staggered into view. They were very similar, undoubtedly siblings, but one had a completely white face. They were both females.

"It looks like you got your wish, Hige," Kiba muttered.

The grey-faced one stumbled. The white-faced wolf nudged her back onto her feet. As they drew closer, the four wolves could see that blood dripped down the coats of both strangers.

"Sh-should we help them?" Toboe asked.

"What can we do?" Kiba shrugged.

The white-faced wolf collapsed, her sister following. Hige and Toboe nodded to each other. They charged through the bushes to the two injured strangers.

* * *

It wasn't until moonrise that the strangers woke. The white-faced one lifted her head and blinked blearily around. She had white bows tied around her ears.

"Don't worry," Hige said, "We won't hurt you. My name's Hige. What's yours?"

"Artemis," she said. She had great, soulful blue eyes. She gave the impression of being about sixteen, just over five feet tall, with freckles, straight brownish hair, and soft features. The illusion came complete with a long, lacy white skirt and a sky blue sweater with a hood. She also wore blue suede clogs, and the ribbon around her ears seemed to be in her hair.

Shakily, she tried to raise herself to her feet. But she whimpered and sank back down to the ground.

"Oh, are you going to be all right?" Toboe said. "We dressed your wounds, so they should heal soon."

"Let me see," Hige said.

Artemis lifted up her sweater. Even Tsume gasped. Just below her ribcage was a nasty, semicongealed hole big enough to fit a paw in.

"Looks like you missed one," Tsume said.

"How could we not have seen that?" Hige said, bewildered.

Kiba gaped. "No wonder Cheza's still crying," he said, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"It's old," Artemis said, wincing, "so it wasn't bleeding much." Her legs were shaking.

"Oh, Artemis," Hige said softly, putting an arm around her shoulders to support her. She swooned and fell back into his arms.

_Submissive, _Tsume thought, automatically labeling Artemis in his mind. He rolled his eyes.

Artemis' eyes snapped open. "Where's my sister?"

"Shh. She's right over there," Hige said.

"Well, those two seem to be getting along well," Tsume muttered. Kiba glanced at him reproachfully.

"Try not to startle her," Artemis said, worriedly. "My sister is... a bit... unusual. And she's very protective."

"We won't bother her," Hige said, reassuringly. "Toboe, are there more of those leaves?"

Toboe brought the herbs to him. Hige began to lay them over the wound in Artemis' stomach. "These will help you heal faster," he said.

"Thank you," Artemis said, blushing.

The grey wolf stirred. Artemis and Hige didn't notice. They were too absorbed in eachother's eyes. But a low growl pulled them out of their reverie. Artemis drew in a sharp breath. "Athena," she said.

This is what Athena saw: Her sister, lying on her back, exposing her stomach to a strange, plump brown wolf, who was leaning over her. She growled again. Out of the corner of her, she saw something move. She lunged.

Tsume was pinned to the ground, on his back, the silver-grey wolf growling in his face. _She's strong_, he thought, surprised._ Maybe stronger than I am._

"Athena, it's all right!" Artemis cried, scrambling to her feet. "They're helping!"

"Oh, be careful!" Toboe said.

Athena glanced at her sister. She paused. Tsume saw her hesitation and lashed out. The two wolves rolled over each other and Athena was the one being pinned down. She snarled and nipped at Tsume's nose. Tsume yelped. They rolled over again. Kiba grabbed Athena by the scruff of her neck and tossed her off of Tsume.

"Both of you, stop," Kiba snarled. "You're upsetting Cheza."

Athena looked back at Artemis. She growled again and sat back on her haunches.

"You shouldn't go around like that," Tsume said. "Humans have eyes, you know."

Athena tossed her head.

"Please, Athena," Artemis begged. "They aren't our enemies."

"'Unusual', my ass," Tsume growled. "She's crazy."

Athena growled again. "You may be right, Artemis, but I'm not nearly as trusting as you are." She stood up, suddenly seeming to walk on two feet. She looked several inches taller than her sister, with a harsher face. Her hair was wavy, tangled, as if it hadn't been brushed in years. She wore a black beaded shirt that exposed her back and much of her stomach, a long, ripped brown skirt, and under it, colourful, baggy pants. To a human's eyes, she would certainly appear crazy.

"Artemis, what were we doing here?" Athena suddenly said.

"We were running away from the man with the shotgun," Artemis said.

"What man?" Athena looked confused.

"The man with the big black dog," Artemis said.

"Oh, yes. I remember. But we're looking for someone, aren't we?"

"Yes. You remember, don't you? We're looking for-"

"Apollo," Athena said. She suddenly was completely lucid. "We're looking for Apollo."

"Who's Apollo?" Tsume asked.

"Our brother," Artemis replied. "We haven't seen him in over a year."

Athena looked off into the distance. "He said he'd meet us," she said.

"Where?" Kiba asked.

Athena closed her eyes. "Paradise."

* * *

Thank you for reading my story! Please review. 

Kaori: Thank you!


	2. Heartbeats

Hello again! Thank you for reading my story. And now it's disclaimer time!!

Kaori: Unfortunately, we don't own Wolf's Rain. We tried to buy Kiba on eBay, but it turned out to just be a stuffed animal. Damn.

* * *

"Paradise?" Toboe asked. "We're going to Paradise, too!" 

"Are you really?" Artemis looked up. She staggered again and Hige caught her. "Could we come with you?" she looked deep into Hige's amber-brown eyes, appealing to him.

_How could I say no to those eyes?_ Hige wondered. "Of course you can," he said, smiling broadly.

Tsume cleared his throat. "Who died and made you the leader?"

"I've told you, we don't have a leader," Kiba said. "This isn't that kind of pack."

"Well, what kind of pack is it?" Athena shot at him. "Sorry excuse for one, if you ask me."

"Well, nobody asked you," Tsume said.

"Don't you talk like that to me, Scar," she said.

"Yeah, well- " he started, but he was stopped by her eyes. A deep, intense blue, both cold and warm at the same time, both calm and crazed. His heart skipped a beat.

Athena winced. She lay down and began licking a cut on her front leg. Tsume watched her very carefully, in case she were struck with the urge to tackle him again. After their scuffle earlier, he figured that she was at least as strong as he was, if not stronger, and he was sure that if she were given the element of surprise she could beat him in a fight.

He had never before met a girl as strong as he was, he realized.

As they walked through the forest, Tsume was careful not to have Athena at his back. But at the same time, Athena seemed as if she were avoiding having Tsume at her back. As a result, they ended up walking abreast, shooting dark looks at each other. Hige and Artemis seemed to be playing some kind of bizarre game of 'accidentally' rubbing up against each other. Tsume looked at them in disgust, and saw Athena doing the same. He accidentally caught her eye again and his heart fluttered. She looked away quickly.

_What was that?_ Tsume wondered. Was he sick?

Athena suddenly burst into peals of loud laughter. Tsume jumped and stared at her. She was rolling on the ground, laughing like a hyena.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Tsume asked furiously.

Artemis grimaced. "Yeah, she does that sometimes," she said. "Just don't pay attention to her. She'll catch up."

Tsume was not about to let the madwoman have his back. He waited for her to recover. Gradually, she calmed down and sat up. Tsume offered her a hand. She hesitated, then took it. She didn't give it back. Tsume didn't ask for it. They walked together until they could see the others ahead of them. Tsume jerked away. She didn't seem hurt or ask why. Tsume glanced at her, and their eyes met. She didn't want to be seen touching him, either.

"This doesn't mean I trust you," Tsume growled as they joined the rest of the pack.

"Ditto," she said.

Athena turned out to have a lot of strange habits. For one, there were the fits of laughter. Then, there were times when she just froze and wouldn't move. Randomly, she would lunge at plants, or at nothing at all, and attack them, as if she thought she were tearing it to pieces.

Tsume couldn't take his eyes off her. He was fascinated with her. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he kept getting the urge to touch her, to rub up against her, to do (he grudgingly acknowledged) what Artemis and Hige had been doing. But he resisted, his fear of humiliation overriding his instincts.

That night, as the others lay sleeping under the silver moon, Athena and Tsume both lay awake, watching shapeless shadows shifting, drifting across the forest floor as the trees swayed in the breeze. They didn't look at each other. Then, Athena spoke.

"Claws, yes?"

"What?"

"Tsume. Claws, yes? It means 'claws'?"

"Oh. Yeah."

Tsume stared up at the starry sky. He wasn't sure why his heart was beginning to beat faster. He looked over at Athena. Her deep blue eyes looked into the sky. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" Tsume asked, rising.

"Nothing." Her messy curls sprawled out on the ground, spilling out of the ponytail on the top of her head. He wished that they were real, that he could stroke them, comfort her.

She was beautiful.

She was a beautiful wolf, and she would have made a beautiful human. Blue eyes, red-brown hair, smooth, pale skin. Tears glistened on her face, reflecting the starlight.

"There must be something wrong, or you wouldn't be crying."

Without warning, she pounced on him, pinning him down. "I'm not crying. And since when are you so sensitive?"

He struggled, but couldn't throw her off. He cursed himself for dropping his guard. His heart was pounding, but not from struggling. She was so close that her breath tickled his face. She looked him directly in the eyes for a moment, and then rolled off of him, lying back down on her back and staring up at the moon.

"Athena was the goddess of wisdom," Athena said.

"Oh, really?"

She was crying again. "Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the hunt." She turned to look at her sister. "Some goddess of wisdom I am." She looked around at the other wolves. "Fang. Claw. Howl. Whisker. Am I the only one who can't live up to her name?"

He suddenly realized that Athena wasn't crazy at all.

Just... sad.

But why?

That, he didn't know.

* * *

Thank you for reading chapter 2!! Please review. I know it was a bit short, but I've got a bit of writer's block. 

Kaori: Thank you! Oh, and much thanks to charice, goldsilver-dragoness, and DevilLady666 for being the first to review this fic. You win. But, by the way, Athena is in fact the goddess of wisdom, and Ares is the god of war.

If any of you are interested, please read and review my Harry Potter fic. Nobody's reviewed it yet and it's depressing. Come back for chapter 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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